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Shaw Women's Basketball gets prestigious
tourney invite
August 30, 3005
Raleigh, NC – The Shaw University Lady Bears basketball
team has accepted an invitation to play in the third annual Holiday
Isle Classic in Islamorada, FL. The tournament is slated for
November 28-29 and will feature teams ranked in the top-10 in
the final NCAA, Division II regular season poll last season.
“We couldn’t be happier than to be in a position
to again bring top-quality NCAA women’s basketball to
the Florida Keys,” said Drew Patey, president of Classic
Sports Events.
The Holiday Isle Classic has quickly earned a reputation nationally
as one of the top non-conference events in the country and
the 2005 field will do nothing to harm that standing. The Shaw
University Lady Bears are one of the featured teams of the
tournament after finishing second in the final 2004-05 ESPN/WBCA
regular season poll. The Lady Bears reached the Elite Eight
en route to a 32-2 overall record and also won their third
consecutive CIAA Tournament title. The CIAA is known among
the NCAA Division II ranks as one of the strongest basketball
leagues in the country.
Emporia State, from Emporia, Kansas, was seventh in that final
regular season poll. Emporia finished 27-6, losing to eventual
national champion Washburn in the third round of the NCAA Championship.
Emporia defeated Drury, the 2004 Holiday Isle Classic champions,
in the NCAA second round.
Joining the top-10 duo is a pair of other quality teams. Nova
Southeastern University who finished 17-12 last season, is
the only squad to compete in each of the previous two Classic
events. Midwestern State, from Wichita Falls, Texas, finished
the 2004-05 season with a 9-18 record.
Pairings for the Holiday Isle Classic will be announced at
a later date.
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